Textile Employment Initiative
ABVI-Goodwill is "Sew" Great
Beginning in March of 2004, ABVI-Goodwill began a new manufacturing project, known as the Textile Employment Initiative. This initiative is a sewing contract with the United States Air Force for whom we produce physical fitness uniform pants (PTUs). This contract is a wonderful opportunity to secure more skilled jobs for people who are blind or visually impaired.
Thanks to a generous contribution from the Davenport-Hatch Foundation and through the assistance of National Industries for the Blind (NIB), ABVI-Goodwill now has 31 sewing machine workstations on which we produce 4,200 pairs of PTUs each month. The assembly line process employs in excess of 20 cross-trained, skilled operators. Each shipment is randomly inspected by a government quality assurance representative and must be approved before it can be sent. Not only will the government inspect all shipments, but ABVI-Goodwill also perform a full internal inspection on each piece.
The PTUs, which are available in 24 different sizes, are our most challenging project to date. From start to finish, one pair of pants takes approximately 35 to 40 minutes to assemble. At this speed, we will be able to produce roughly 210 pairs of pants per day to meet our monthly totals. Each garment is made from scratch, with all U.S. made materials.
Our Textile Employment Initiative is just the latest example of how ABVI-Goodwill is able to provide skilled labor for people who are blind or visually impaired.
For more information, please contact Joe Kells, Director of Sales, at (585) 697-5787 or email jkells@abvi-goodwill.com
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